


Love at First Slapshot

by for_t2



Category: Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Airports, Being Lost, Canon Non-Binary Character, Chaos, Chocolate, Cold Weather, Hockey, Humor, Light Angst, Love at First Sight, Minnesota Whitecaps, NWHL, Other, Philadelphia Flyers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22347835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2
Summary: Love is where home is, and Gritty's home is always on the ice, even if comes following a slight mishap involving all-you-can-eat chocolate and the wrong plane
Relationships: Gritty (Hockey RPF)/Cappy (Hockey RPF)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Love at First Slapshot

The more the snow pounded down from the dark sky, the more their boots skidded over gravel and splashed into the moistest slush, the more Gritty lost hope. The more their fur, once so bright and cackling with energy, drooped in disappointment. Or maybe it was just the weight of the melting water, chilling them all the way down to the bone. 

Geography had never been their strong suit, never really had to be. Gritty wasn’t that type of agent of chaos. They were much better with birds – penguins, ducks, pigeons, all the creatures of the sky that dared oppose them, Gritty had devised strategies, counter-strategies, counter-counter-strategies for each and every one of them. Foolproof plans to turn those flappy beings who barely knew how to fly into fools. 

Planes, however, were a different matter altogether. As much as Gritty was a frequent flyer, there’s only so much an agent of chaos can do when presented with an all-you-can-eat chocolate bar tucked away behind the wall between the third and fourth payphones on the second floor of Pearson International Airport. And as the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned into hours, with a belly fuller than the back of the Maple Leafs’ net, Gritty could hardly be blamed for sleepwalking onto the wrong plane. 

It was only when the first snowflake plopped itself right onto their drooling tongue that Gritty realised that the cold wood of the park bench beneath them wasn’t right. That the streets and the skyscrapers were all in the wrong places. And the more the snow fell, the more the evening stretched into night, Gritty’s despair grew all-consuming. 

Eventually, feet too tired to make another attempt at an odd-man rush, lips too numb to cry out for Giroux once more, Gritty kneeled over, face first into the wall. As they lay there, slumped against the wall of some unknown building, all they could do was watch the snow and pray to the Divine Hall of Fame. All they could do was… 

Wait. 

The wall. Gritty could feel the vibrations coming from the inside. Vibrations that seemed too familiar. Vibrations that maybe, just maybe, just possibly, could mean hope. 

So they pushed themselves to their legs for one last breakout, and pressed their face to the windows. And what they saw inside made their eyes perk up in googliness again. 

It was a hockey rink. It was a home. 

And as they pushed their way into the arena, the sounds and smells bringing life to their tired limbs, Gritty couldn’t help but be instantly transfixed. Gritty had seen a lot of games before, their team always bringing joy to their heart even when they lost, but this was almost a whole new level. Maybe they were just hypothermically hallucinating, but the speed, the skill, the goaltending, the scoreboard ticking higher… It was perfect. There was an organic chaos to it that was everything a being like them needed. 

“Like what you see?” 

The tickle that ran down Gritty’s spine could mean only one thing. And as they turned to face the voice, they couldn’t help but shiver. Standing behind them, clad in a jersey of the deepest black and blue that showed off their fractal curves just right, their face perfectly shaped in a puck that seemed far too edible, with eyes that met theirs right in the soul, Gritty knew they had met their linemate. “Yessss,” Gritty couldn’t help themselves from purring. 

“Welcome to Minnesota.” The other agent of chaos’ hand that slipped around Gritty’s was warmer and softer than anything Gritty could’ve imagined. “Call me Cappy.” 

Sometimes, the thought flickered through Gritty’s mind, chaos is better done with two.

**Author's Note:**

> The NWHL is awesome. You should watch it


End file.
